Cable support package



`Ian. 8, 1935. A B CHANCE 1,987,096

CABLE SUPPORT PACKAGE Filed June 1. 1932 from asteel cable carried by Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITEDsTTES.

.;1,ss7,'096`f n CABLE' SUPPORT PACKAGE v Albert B. Chance,Centralia,.Mo. t ApplicationJune t1, 1632, SerialNo.` 614,722

y 3 Claims.v (o1. 20s-,#4615,

terri;l klsu1 3-iorted byjfone of "the, cable supporting The present inventionrelates to cable supports, and is particularly concerned with improved methods of packing cable l supports ork loops of the type utilized for supporting a conductor cable thegpoles or other supporting members'.

It has been customary to pack cable Supporting t u Ipeeking constructed according to the presentinv loops or rings of the type'illustrated inthis application in sacks, usually placing iiveghundred to a thousand in a sack. These cable loops yor rings have such a tendency toward entanglement -that the lineman hangingthe cable loses a great deal of time in luntangling thecab-le loops yfrom each other. rSometimes moretime is required to untanglev the cable loopsthan. WouldbeI-re- ,steelwcablejwhioh carried'by the telephone poles `toprovide a support by-vmeans of the cable supquired to place them in position lto supDQrt Ythe cable. f

One method of reducing theentanglement and saving some of the timerequired-foruntangling, is to pack the cable loops in smaller sacks, but this does not prevent entanglement, and` a very small number of the cable loops, ifrassembledtogether at random in a sack, will'becomevso entangled that a great deal of trouble is .encountered in untangling the loops.l y

One of the objects of the .,presentinvention lis the elimination of vthe entanglement of the cable loops or rings which is occasioned by the methods of packing utilized in the prior art.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved method of packing cable rings or loops of the class described, by `means of which the entanglement of the respective loops is eliminated and the loopsare systematicallyarranged so that they can-be removed from the package and assembled with the cable with a minimum amount of effort and'at a considerable saving of time. f' 1 .A

Anotherv object of thev invention `is-the vprovision of an improved package consisting-of a plurality of cable loops of the class described, having improved characteristicsfrom the point of view of avoiding entanglement of the loops, and also to facilitate the assembly of the loops with the cable by means of routine motions of the workmen, thereby saving agreat dealof time in this'work. ,Y Y f;

Other objects andadvantages` of the invention Will beapparent from'the following description, and from the accompanying drawing, in which similar characters` of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.`

Referring to the single sheet .of drawings, t Fig-1 is an elevationalfviewof the conductor cable, suchy as that utilized for javtelephone.- sysloops-,and al steel cable;

Fig. 2 .is enlarged View of theA Ysteel cable and cable supporting loop, viewed from a different angle, the pointof view `being located yatthe right side of Figl;y y u w Y. y l

y Fig.. 3 isaside,elevationaLview of acable loop ventiQn; and 1 4 n plan .View :of the same packing.v Invorolerl to understand the `difliculties involved the packinghof cable loops o-f thistype, the

characteristicsrotv the cable loopitself Will iirst beI described inidetail.

Referringto Figs. 1 and 2, 10 indicatesjthe usual porting loops; ll for the conductor cable l2,vvhiclf1 usually ,consists of a lead 'covered (habla-including a ,mvliipliity @insulated Wires- `tiplicitybf points between' the polesffrom vthe steel cable 10 vbyjmeans of `the supporting loops present packing are of the type which are adapted to be'rmly securedL upon the ysteel cable 10 by virtueofltheir peculiar, formation and cooperation The Aspacing of the cablesupporting loops llfor any particular 'job` will depend upon the lcharacteristics o f the cablesemployed, such as weight,,str,ength,etc. d .f Y y The cable supporting loops Which have been v .selectedv forvfthe purpose of `illustration of the with thesteeleable 1o. 'sometimes these 'cable f supporting loops'vary in size, and inthe distance 'of their supporting surface from` Athefsteel` cable ,10, so that isolated cableloops may not yeven be engagedby the lead cable 12. l Such isolated loops, supporting'no weight, might become disconnected,

were it not for `the fact thatj the present cable supporting loops are so constructed that they are lead cable to secure them in place."

The loops or rings are .preferably formed of ilat ysteel Wire, which is preferably galvanizedafter Ithelengths of cablearezcut and after the finished 4loophas been 'shaped to the form shown` in Figs.

1 and 2. Each loop is preferably provided with a `substantially cylindricallycurved supporting sur'- ifacelof a size large enough to receive thelead .-cable 12,1.and as .a general rule the loop `which comprises the curved portion 13 is considerably larger than the cable 12. l

The curved portion 14 is so arranged that it will extend about the cable 12, as shown in Fig. 1, and the legs of the curved portion 14 extend diagonally upward to the left and right, as shown at 14 and 15 in Fig. 1; that is, the legs 14 and 15 project diagonally from the plane of the curved portion 13, in order to extend'toward two diierent parts of the steel cable l0. lThe legs 14 and 15 also bend over toward each other, as shown in the end View in Fig. 2, since both of the ends of the loop `must be brought into the approximate 10. The leg 15 turns upward at substantially a right angle at the point 18 and extendsupward about the steel cable 10, being formedrwith a Vcurved portion 19 and a downwardly extending end 20. The end 20 is spaced from the flat por- Vtion 1'?Y a distance which-enables the steel lcable l to pass through the space2l. n The leg 14 has an upward curvature at the lpoint 22 extendingupward to a hump 23 which'ls above the lower edge ofthe steel cable 10 when the device is assembled as in Fig. 1. The hump 23 is'the location of a downwardly bent 4portion 24 `which is formed with a depression 25 on its upper k side forV receiving the steel cable 10. From the point of the depression 25 -the flat wire oi' this end of the loop curves upward helically aboutkthe steel cablelo, being provided with substantially a full turn of a helix when viewed Afrom .the left end of Fig. l, but the end Y26 terminates at 4apoint spaced fromV the bodyfof the helical turn 2'1.l In

vother words, the space28 between the end 26 and the'body of the flat'wire is wide enough to permitfthe insertion'of thesteel cable 10 into the loop formed by this helical turn21. Y V

Thecurved supporting surface `25 belowrthe hump 23 is located at such a point that Ythe'cable supporting loop rnust be placed under some tension when it is assembled with the two cables, as shown in Fig. 1./ Thus theloop 11 tends to fdeform the steel cable 10 from its straight line position, as showninFig. 1,v and the downward pressure on the curved surface 25 by the steel cable I10 tends to draw the other curved end 19 of the cable loop or ring 1l into engagement with the steel cable 10. g n

The two endsl9 and2'1v of the loop engage the top of the'steel cable 10, and the curved part 25 of the loop engages below the steel cable 10. The hump 23 is located on vthe side of the steel cable 10 opposite fromthe end 26 so that the cable supporting loop is very firmly securedto the steel cable 10 when it isproperly assembled therewith. l It will thus' be observed that there is an opening 29 between the two ends 20 yand 26V ofV the cable supporting loop, the opening 29 Y.being such that the lead cable 12 may pass through itin order to effect an assembly of the parts without the necessityfor passing the rings or loops over the ends of the leadv cable 12. i

` This opening 29 in the cable supporting loops or rings is the cause ofmuch of the entanglement Vwhich results when thesek cable rings are placed 1in sacks.y i

mations tend to become entangled with other parts of adjacent loops in the sacks. v

Suffice it to say that the difficulty of separating k these cable supporting rings or loops can hardly be appreciated except by trying to separate a sack full of these loops. It is impossible to pick up even one of the cable rings without lifting the Whole entangled mass of them, and in separating one ringV from the rings with which it may then be entangled the irregularity of formation of the rings is such that'they are apt Jtobern'oved into greater entanglement with other adjacent rings yor loops. p

Agreat deal of time is spent by linemen trying to untangle these loops, once they become entangled, as 'they do when they are placed in sacks.

Oneof the most important features of the invention is the prevention of the entanglement of these cable supporting rings at any time during their handling.

Referring to Figs; 3 and 4, 'these are views of one of the preferred forms of packaging or modes of packing cable .supporting rings or loops which I yhave found are capable of preventing the entanage being appropriatel tofglve satisfactory' vpack- L ing for the'particular'size of loop. `The present loops require particular lattention inthe nesting ofthe loops on account of their peculiar formationQand lit ,willl be observed that theyare arranged with their lower curved portions 13 side by side with eachA other. This places the hooked formations 19 side by side adjacent hooked formations of adjacent loops, but the helical formations 27 at the opposite end do not nest so easily and would not be nested if they were merely placed side by side with each other.

ReferringY to Fig. 3, the helical formations 27 and 27A of the loopsll and 11A canl be nested by merelyY passing the part of the loop 27 through the space 28 of the loop 27A. The loop 27A`is then twisted slightly with respect tothe loop 27 until the two loops arrive at the position shown, andthe loops may be nested with their helical ends each curved about the body of the next adj acent loop,'as shown in Figs. l3 and v4. i

One advantage of this mode of nesting is'v that the helical` or curved hooks at the left` endofthe loops in Figs. 1 and 2( are partially filled by their .nesting with the adjacent loops,l and it is practically impossible to entangle this end' of a'package withother packages.

The nested loops are `preferably secured together in such a manner that they may be maintained in the position shown in Fig. 3, and also preferably in suchr a manner that the widev opening 29 between the'legs of the loop is closed and so that the hooked formations 19 at the opposite ends of the loops are also lled.

One way Vof accomplishing this result is to lpass a strip of material such as cardboard. tape, or the like, about -the vertically extending portion 30 of the loops in Fig. 3 and vabout the vertically extending portions 31 at the other end of the loops in Fig. 3. It is preferred to use a piece of corrugatedV cardboard on account of the fact that such incident' to Lil material possesses suiiicient thickness to substantially ll the hooked formations 19. Such material is also sufficiently stiff to be maintained in position upon the vertical portion 30 by the engagement of the lower side 32 of the strip 33 with the shoulders 17.

It will be noted also that the vertically extending portions 30 curve slightly toward the right in Fig. 3, and the hump at the bend 22 also serves to keep the securing strip 33 in place. The securing strip 33 is preferably of the same width as the distance from the portion 17 to the upper end of the hook 19, and after being passed about both ends of the loops the ends of the strip 33 are preferably secured'together.

One convenient mode of securing the ends together is by means of stapling, the staple 34 being shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Other convenient modes which might also be utilized are cementing the overlapping ends, taping, sewing, riveting, or any of the conventional modes of fastening cardboard parts together. The staple 34 consists of a substantially U-shaped member, the legs of which are driven through both of the ends 0f the cardboard strip, and the ends of the staple 34 are bent over on the rear side.

It will be noted that the cardboard strip 33 closes the relatively large opening 29 between the legs of the loop, and it also closes the hooked formations at one end of each of the loops and maintains the curved formations at the other ends in nested relation. The bodies of the loops are maintained in engagement with each other because the cardboard strip draws the right hand loop over into nesting engagement with all of the other loops, which in turn react against the outermost loop at the left hand side which is engaged by the cardboard strip.

When cable supporting loops packaged according to the present invention are utilized, the strip 33 may be broken very easily, and the loops may be taken from the left hand side of the package in Fig. 3 by grasping the loop at that side and turning it backward in a counterclockwise direction in Fig. 3 until the curled end on the left leg of the loop is twisted out of engagement with the rest of the package.

yConductor cables may be assembled with the supporting loops and steel cable very quickly, without any loss of time due to the entanglement of the cable supporting loops, when this package is employed. The packages may also be thrown into sacks or boxes without any entanglement, and the package promises to be of great commercial importance on account of the high cost of labor and the saving of time of labor which is accomplished by vmeans of this method.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved method of packing and an improved package for maintaining the loops in such relation that the entanglement of the loops lis effectively prevented.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention,.and I do not wish to be limited to -the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself o f all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A package of cable supporting loops oomprising a plurality of vsaid loops, each having a hook-like formation at one end and each having a helical formation at the opposite end, said loops being placed side by side with the hook-like for.- mations adjacent each other and each of the helical formations twisted about the body of an adjacent loop, and a securing member about said cable-supporting loops, said securing member being threaded through said hook-like formationsl and bridging the ends of said loops to preventy other loops from entering the opening `between the ends of said loops.

2. A package of cable supporting loops comprising a plurality of said loops, each having a hook-like formation at one end and each having a helical formation at the opposite end, said loops being placed side by side with the hook-like formationsadjacent each other and each of the helibeing threaded through said hook-like formations and bridging the ends of said loops to prevent otherl loops from entering the opening between the ends of said loops, said securing member comprising a strip of suilicient width to substantially fill said hook-like formations.

3. A package of cable supporting loops comprising a plurality of saidloops, each having a cal formations twisted aboutthe body of an ady jacent loop, and a securing member about said cable-supporting loops,` said securing member hook-like formation at one end and each having a helical formation at the opposite end, said 

